Hagler wrote:Gentlemen,
One of the photographs in that listing gives me the oportunity to ask a question that I have been wanting to ask for a long time. Why do so many Marlins have "pry marks" on their breechbolts, like these:
I have seen a bunch of those.
Shawn
I would tend to guess it is because the gun has jammed, usually a double feed, and someone has used a screwdriver to try and work the second shell back into the magazzene.
I have seem lots of used Marlin 1894's in 44mag that showed the same marks. They used to have a bad reputation for jamming. In the 70's there was a gun dealer I used to frequent who would not hardly trade for a used Marlin 44mag because too many customers ended up bringing them back to him, because of jamming problems.
A few year later, around 1990, I decided to purchase an almost new, Marlin 44mag at a gunshow. I figured well surly after a few more years Marlin must have fixed this problem, and this gun did not have the so called screwdriver marks so commonaly seen on these guns in the past. So, I bought it, and it was an accurate gun, but after a while, I started having problems, and eventually, my gun had those same screwdriver marks on it too. I ended up trading it off, along with a bundle of cash for a Four wheeler.
I have heard that if you will send them back to marln, they will fix them for you and you won't have anymore problems. They know the problem exists, but I guess would rather fix one, ever once in a while, then do it right the first time on the production line.
Back in the the 90's when cowboy action shooting was getting going around here, where I live, guys were quick to find out that the Marlns were prone to jam, and most looked for a Rossi 92 or of course an oringinal 92 or a Browning 92, or a 73 replica in the pistol calibers. But even some of those rifles will be sensitive to bullet configuration, and over all length.